More high-quality evidence needed to address misinformation and reduce fears towards psychedelics to treat mental health conditions
13 September 2023
Monash University has published a new study to determine the current attitudes of Australian representatives across major and minor political parties, unions, peak organisations and regulatory and clinical bodies towards using psychedelic agents in medically supervised environments to treat mental health conditions.
The study, published in Public Health Research & Practice and led by Monash’s BehaviourWorks Australia and the Neuromedicines Discovery Centre within the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), found a perceived insufficiency of evidence was preventing support for widespread clinical implementation of psychedelics in Australia.
State and Federal politicians representing both major and minor political parties also consistently mentioned that negative stigma prevented them and their peers from supporting the medical use of psychedelics in Australia.